"rb608" wrote in message
...

"Sue Ann" wrote in message
...
....and I can't stand it. We have common hot water baseboard heat and I
have caulked around all water pipes. There's no insulation between the
ceiling of the condo below and my hardwood floors which are covered with
wall-to-wall carpeting.
Crazy idea: Taking up the carpet and putting a layer of Tyvek under the
padding? What do you think?
Any other ideas?

Let's assume a polite request to the unit below would be fruitless, even
if
you offered to pay for their Nicoderm.

Forget the personal comfort and convenience angle. Because it's a condo,
everyone has a common interest in the safety of the buildings. I'd say
take
it up with the condo association and make an attempt to have the entire
community smoke free. Not for your personal satisfaction, of course, but
to
reduce the fire hazard. Lower the insurance premiums. When there's money
involved, people pay attention. If the non-smokers outnumber the smokers,
you have a shot. If there are more smokers than non-smokers, I'd say you
may as well just move.

Oh boy, yet another power to give to a condo association! Talk about
legalized fascism.

The thing is that I don't think that in California an HOA has the power to
make any rules that could impact on the value or saleability of the members
property.

A non-smoking condo development would restrict sales to non-smokers and
thereby limit the potential to sell.

Of course, the case could be made that a non-smoking development would be an
added value, but someone would have to prove that statistically, and I don't
know how they would do it.

IMO, if one must participate in an HOA, the best idea is to limit it's
powers, not grant it more. HOAs do not exist for the benefit of the owners,
they were created to protect the developers.